Riverview Parents Halt Lawsuit Threat Against Mehlville

MEHLVILLE, Mo. (KMOX) – No lawsuit will be filed today against the Mehlville School District over restricting the number of transfer students the district will take.

The suit would have been filed by three Riverview Gardens School District parents through the Childrens Education Alliance of Missouri. Spokeswoman Kate Casas says the group has been talking with Mehlville and Kirkwood School Districts all week.

“After talking with Mehlville and Kirkwood late last night and early this morning, we believe that there is a good chance or a possibility that they will find spaces for all of the students who needed transportation in order to transfer,” Casas said Thursday. “If that happens then we wouldn’t file the lawsuit but I wouldn’t say we’re 100 percent of the way there just yet.”

Casas will meet with district officials over the weekend. If those talks stop or a compromise isn’t reached, she says the lawsuit is still an option.

“Some reports in the media are suggesting Mehlville has agreed to take the remaining number of transfer students who need transportation. This is not accurate,” he says. “Instead, we have mutually agreed to continue talks with all districts involved to formulate resolutions.”

The Mehlville Board of Education held an emergency meeting last night in order to, according to the board agenda, discuss, “legal action, causes of action or litigation.”

In the letter Thursday, Knost defended the emergency meeting.

“Legal action, causes of action or litigation are appropriate topics for closed session meetings and it would be counterproductive to discuss these matters in public,” he wrote.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has also said it plans to sue both Mehlville and Kirkwood for turning down some students.